The Fire Within Book One: Shadows
by Sarcasmic
Summary: Set several years after ATLA, a new Gaang has to rise up to the occasion and save the world once again. Utilizing the new shadowbender nation, Azula's presence is a shadow among the lands and now even the Avatar might not be enough to stop her.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

I had never seen so much that was good in the world become corrupted so fast. After the defeat of Fire Lord Ozai, we had four years of peace and Avatar Aang had finally restored balance to the nations, with aid of Fire Lord Zuko. But their reign came to a swift end, at the edge of a lightning bolt. Word first reached of Azula's escape and then not even a week later, a guard discovered Ozai dead in his cell. The manhunt for Azula started, but it was all in vain.

For Azula had discovered a new style of benders, who bent not the elements, but the shadows in the dark. These 'shadow' benders proved to be better fighters than most soldiers of the other elements and Azula seemed immune to damage behind her army. However, in the end one man came before Azula. My sister's husband went up against Azula, but meet his demise at the receiving end of one of Azula's lightning attacks. With the Avatar dead, Azula struck fear into the hearts of many and took back the Fire Nation from her brother. He disappeared that day, for reason known to no other than himself.

And from there, Azula picked apart the peace with ease and before we knew it, she had the other nations in checkmate, ready to deliver the final blow. Yet something happened and Azula withdrew her forces from many of her battles. She focused solely on the demise of the Southern Water Tribe and the Foggy Swamp Water Tribes. Azula promised peace to the others, providing any water tribe member would be brought before her. She allowed the waterbenders a place of refuge in the North Pole and all who tried to live elsewhere meet a swift demise.

Naturally a rebellion started, but it's campaign was not long lived. The shadowbenders struck down all opposition without hesitation and the Rebels became nothing more than a rag-tag group of freedom fighters.

I offered my services to the Rebels, but I had been injured permanently in the battle against Ozai in my youth and they could find little use for me. Apparently knowing the Avatar and having a hand in Ozai's defeat is no longer the feat it use to be. I haven't seen my sister, Suki, or Toph in years. Aang and Appa were gone and Momo had nowhere else to go, so we stayed together. But the loss of his kind and the last of the Air Nomads weakened Momo and the little guy didn't have the fight in him to carry on for much longer.

It's been over ten years since Azula's rise to power. I once taught students how to fight with the sword, but after a near execution, I had no choice but to flee. Now I live in the ruins of my home, as if waiting for another chance. Waiting for another boy in the iceberg…


	2. Episode One: The Next Generation

Chapter One: The Next Generation

"Stop that man. He's wanted for murder!" The sounds of guards rang out below Saleim yet he didn't look back, as he raced across the low roof tops of Shanty, his nimble feet guiding his path.

An arrow whizzed past Saleim's shoulder, cutting the robes he had worn as a disguise. The realization the men were no longer just chasing him on ground level took Saleim and he realized his options of escape were wearing thin. Only moments ago, as Saleim had achieved his objective of silencing a corrupt follower, had he felt so confident in this plan. Now he knew he would be lucky to make out with his life.

"Stop, assassin. Resistance will not get you far," said a soldier ahead of him, sword drawn and held in an offensive stance. Saleim had little more than the dagger on his belt and a concealed blade built into the wrist of his outfit, and knew taking on a fully trained soldier of the Fire Nation would be a horrible decision particularly with so many close behind. Saleim had been trained to assassinate, not fight. Looking around, Saleim spotted a roof not far to his left, hopefully in jumping distance.

Not stopping for a second, Saleim turned and used all his gathered momentum to launch himself off the roof toward the next. But in that moment, the distance seemed doubled and Saleim feared he wouldn't make it. He pictured the face of his mother and twin sister, smiling at the fact he may soon be reunited with them.

He gripped the edge of the roof with both hands frantically and struggled to pull himself up. With a little struggle, Saleim pulled himself up and let out a breath of relief, before mustering himself on his feet yet again.

"I told you resistance is futile," said the same guard as before, appearing out of nothing before Saleim. Not nothing, noted Saleim, but the shadows, noticing the blurred edges of the man. Saleim knew he was no match for a fully realized shadowbender without the element of surprise, but he would not go down without a fight.

"I won't let you take me to prison," warned Saleim, drawing his dagger and holding it in a defensive position. The last thing he expected was for the shadowbender to start laughing.

"This is the voice of the assassin plaguing the city of death? It breaks like a child's under stress," provoked the shadowbender, invoking Saleim to lunge at the shadowbender in anger. Shadow caught him by the arm and pushed him onto his back, while the shadowbender sat safely behind the shade.

"Foolish child. I'm not here to take you in. I'm here to put an end to your conquest." The shadowbender struck down at Saleim with his sword. Saleim rolled to the side at the last moment, leaping off his back as sword struck tile.

"There is a reason no man has caught me yet," warned Saleim rushing up to the shadowbender with his dagger, but now he saw the shadow forming to attack him. Flicking the device on his wrist, the blade popped out and cut through the shadow before Saleim nicked the soldier on the arm with the hidden blade.

Saleim slipped past the soldier and leaped off the building, tearing off his robes in the process. The dark colorless hair that marked a shadowbender fell down and bounced off Saleim's neck. His armor was more leather than anything else, hardened by skills lost and could take more damage than most metals, for it was the armor of an assassin. "I am the son of Armansage, the first shadowbender to turn on the Fire Nation. Surely you've heard of the tale?" boasted Saleim, eyes tracing the shadow amongst the walls.

"I've heard it all… including his end." The shadowbender appeared from the shadows of the building in front of Saleim and sprinted toward him. Rather than attack with his sword, the bender extended several razor sharp bands of shadow before him, toward Saleim. The shadow never reached Saleim, for something neither combatant expected occurred. A razor sharp piece of rock protruded from the shadowbender's chest as he sunk to the ground in death.

Behind him stood three teenagers, fairly close to Saleim's age; two boys and one girl. One of the males was standing in an earth bending stance and the other male approached Saleim.

"Come with us if you want to make it out of this alive."

--------------

"What's going on?" Misty Palms Oasis had never been visited by such a large group of soldiers in Tristen's lifetime and like the majority of the town, Tristen felt no excitement or joy in this fact. Misty Palms Oasis was one of the few places that did not house Fire Nation or their supporters, but they had never supported the resistance either, so the Fire Nation usually left them be. So, what made this day an occasion worthy of a platoon of Fire Nation soldiers? Rumors of the sandbenders of Si Wong Desert rebelling had been heard here and there, so it could be the Fire Nation were setting up camp here, before setting out on a campaign to squash the rebellion.

"Tristen, over here," called out Ariad, Tristen's best friend. Although he was only fourteen and two years younger than Tristen, he was the closest person to Tristen's age in Misty Palms, due to the small size of the village.

"What's going on?" asked Tristen and Ariad grinned, before replying, "Fire Lord Azula has reason to believe that we folks of Misty Palms Oasis are harboring wanted felons. And not just any wanted felons, but waterbenders nonetheless. Crazy huh?" Tristen couldn't help, but grin at the stupidity of that statement.

"Any idea what caused that crazy notion?" asked Tristen and Ariad pointing out someone at the head of the crowd. Tristen recognized the shady looking fellow; he had shown up in town some few days ago, saying he had lost his way and needed to recuperate.

"He's part of the Fire Nation. Apparently, he's been scouring our little town and seems to have found something worth attention," explained Ariad and Tristen nodded solemnly, as the soldiers began to move through town. A few people followed the soldiers, but many returned to their day to day lives, not stupid enough to bother the Fire Nation; Tristen and Ariad were not among those people.

"Why are they stopping at our place?" asked Ariad and Tristen shook his head, replying, "Maybe they don't know their way around and they're going to ask for directions?" The soldiers did look confused, but it would also be quite hard to get lost in a place as small as Misty Palms. However, when they bust down the door to the building with no warning and began evacuating people, Tristen felt something in his gut turn the wrong way.

Tristen and his mother had lived in that house, since before Tristen could remember and it had always been the place he called home. It was not particularly large, but when they struggled for money, the way they did, it was not bad all things considered. Not only that, but it was the household of several others, including Ariad and his entire family, including his mother, father, and two sisters. Tristen lived alone with his mom, who was often not home, to keep them feed and supported. They had lived this life for sixteen years and Tristen knew not a woman kinder than his mother and he appreciated the few nights they got to live together as a family.

Tristen felt someone grasp their shoulder from behind and he jumped, spinning around, the sand at his feet ready for attack.

"Mother, you scared me," said Tristen, as his heart slowly began to decrease in pace. She smiled weakly at Tristen, but he noticed her grim expression and his stomach began turning again.

"Tristen and Ariad, you need to listen to me. We need to get you out of this village," started Tristen's mother, but suddenly the voice of a Fire Nation soldier boomed over hers. "This here is a water tribe pendant. The men of their tribes forge them for the woman they are to wed. Everyone who has housed here is a traitor to the Fire Nation and will be taken in for questioning. Are there any others who live here?" Tristen wanted to turn back and look, but his mother prevented him.

"The town has amassed a crowd for you to sneak out through. Ariad, your younger siblings are waiting outside of town for you. I need you to go with the men you see there and look after the children till we get back. Can you do that?"

"Where's my mother?" asked Ariad, but Tristen's mother didn't answer. She looked at Tristen, who swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded slowly.

"I will give you a distraction, but you have to run now," said his mother in haste and she kissed Tristen on the cheek, before pushing him and Ariad toward the crowd. They slid aside for the two boys to move through, as they began to proceed forward.

"I love you Tristen." Even from a distance, Tristen heard her words and he turned to face her. She had begun to frantically push her way through the crowd, drawing all attention to herself. Tristen didn't have time to be shocked, because he felt Ariad grab his hand and pull him in the direction opposite his mother. Yet, he couldn't look away, as he saw the Fire Nation chase after his mother. They stumbled through crowd, that was letting his mother pass through with ease, but even so, they would soon catch up with her.

"Take her down!" shouted the loud soldier from before and suddenly Tristen lost sight of his mother, as flame engulfed her from multiple directions.

"MOTHER!" Tristen broke free of Ariad's grasp and began to ran toward her. But suddenly a soldier appeared next to him and grabbed by the throat.

"Mother is it? The son of a traitor is still a traitor," said the soldier and Tristen felt everything grow black.

------

"Your daughter has mastered all there is to learn of our element from teachings. For one her age, this is an incredible feat," explained Advisor Yao-Mein of the Northern Water Tribe. Chief Arnook looked down at his daughter, who was little more than ten years of age and sighed. He could see so much of his first daughter Yue in her, but due to only sharing half of the same genetics, there were many features that were her own. She had her sisters wide blue eyes, but her hair was dark enough to almost be considered shadowbender. She was a petite girl, but they could not yet tell if this was due to puberty, or the lack of it, or not. But while Yue's eyes held a caring touch, there was fire that burned in Akasha's eyes.

"Does this mean the time of parting has come?" asked Arnook, looking at his spiritual advisor. Yao-Mein nodded his head and Arnook drew his daughter into his embrace.

"Do you know what it is like to have to bare to give up both your daughters? Every night, I can feel my loss radiate down from the moonlight. And now to give Akasha… It's almost too much to bare." Yao-Mein was silent as Arnook's words filled the nearly empty room.

"She is the Avatar. I know this is hard for you, but she is the only hope the world has," said Yao-Mein, and Arnook looked up at him.

"They said the same thing about the Airbender Aang. And although he saved the world, it lead him to an early grave. He was not much older than Akasha at the time either," said Arnook and Yao-Mein placed a hand on his chieftain's shoulder.

"He was protected by children, not men who knew how to fight. A group of the best soldiers from each nation will be there to protect her. And we will seek out the Ice Queen, who holds the key to her training. Nothing will happen to your daughter," promised Yao-Mein and Arnook remained motionless for several moments. He could feel Akasha hugging his waist tightly and he felt the tears roll down his cheeks. Finally, he nodded his head and pulled Akasha away from him.

Using his weary hands, he explained everything to Akasha in the only language she knew and told her about her destiny. Arnook felt his arms grow tired from old age, but more so from the despair he faced at the loss of his second daughter. With his final moments with her, he gave her the one phrase he meant more than anything in the world; I love you.


End file.
